Sing a Melody of Determination
by No Sleep Until Vacation
Summary: In a world where the war between humans and monsters never happened, a strange darkness is threatening to take over the entire land. Asriel Dreemurr takes it upon himself to stop this, but he won't be alone. His family and friends, both old and new, will help him every step of the way. Undertale x Mother 1 (aka EarthBound Beginnings).
1. Pollyanna

**It was a long time ago that the darkness was threatening to overtake the land. This darkness, originating from deeply negative emotions, had somehow grown into something far beyond that...and even far beyond itself. It threatened humans and monsters alike, corrupting them until they barely resembled their real selves. Even animals and inanimate objects weren't safe. Chaos and destruction seemed to be imminent.**

 **However, it did not come to pass. A scientist known only as W. D. Gaster was able to create a system to contain this darkness. The system was flawed, unfortunately; it could only contain it for a limited amount of time. After the initial darkness passed, Gaster sought to create a more permanent way to contain it or even eradicate it outright.**

 **One day, though, he mysteriously disappeared. Nobody knew where he went to, and nobody heard from or saw him after that. His disappearance remains a mystery to this very day.**

 **...**

 _ **Many years later...**_

 _Clunk... clunk..._

...what?

 _Clunk, clunk, clunk..._

...no. It was still dark. Not time to wake up at all. The nearby clock said it was five in the morning. He could see it. He just had to close his eyes and-

 _Clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk-_

"Ugh...!"

Twelve-year-old Asriel Dreemurr sat up in his bed. What was making this noise at this hour? He was lucky that he was on break from school; alarm clocks were a rude enough awakening, and at least _those_ went off at slightly more reasonable times! He lifted his paw and focused as well as he could while only being half-awake; green fire magic shimmered from his fingers, allowing him to see just what was making that noise.

"Oh... it's just my lamp hopping across the floor..."

Now that that was settled, Asriel lay back down and closed his eyes...

...which promptly shot back open.

" _My lamp is hopping across the floor?_ "

He sat back up and conjured the flames again; his lamp was no longer hopping across the floor, but now it was hovering right over him.

With his free hand, Asriel gripped the bedsheets for dear life, trembling at the sight before him. Nobody had done anything weird to his lamp, as far as he knew (well, except for that April Fool's joke where Chara secretly replaced the bulb with a green one, but that was some time ago), so why was it suddenly moving?

But before Asriel could ponder this further, the lamp suddenly swung its cord at him, the plug hitting him right in the nose. He cried out in pain and scrambled out of bed, nearly taking the bedsheets down with him. More fire magic - he looked around, frantically trying to think of what to do... he saw it.

"The door!"

A mad dash to the bedroom door - his parents would surely know what to do about-

Nope. The lamp (was it sentient now?) wasn't having any of it. Floating in front of him, threateningly extending its cord whenever Asriel's paw even _slightly_ moved towards the doorknob - and did it just start glowing, despite not being plugged in?

Asriel felt a twinge of sadness. There was only one thing he could do, and although he _really_ didn't want to resort to this, he had no other choice.

 _I just hope I can explain this to Mom and Dad..._

Frantic running towards elsewhere in the room. Asriel grabbed something made of plastic (was it a toy? He couldn't tell right now) and threw it hard at the lamp. It recoiled from the hit. This was his chance. Asriel ran up to the lamp, it extended the cord to hit him - only for Asriel to grab the cord himself. The lamp tried to break free, but Asriel's other paw also gripped it.

Asriel glared. It was now or never.

Remembering how he had seen athletes do the hammer-throw, Asriel let out a yell as he swung the lamp around and around by its cord. He hoped, he _prayed_ it wouldn't bind him or strangle him or-

 _Crash!_

The glow disappeared.

Asriel let go of the cord, and just stood there. He breathed in. He breathed out. For at least the third time in the past few minutes, he used his fire magic to see what just happened.

The lamp lay on the floor, its body broken, and its lampshade undoubtedly damaged. Asriel found himself mourning a little bit; this lamp may not have been a family heirloom, but it still did have some slight sentimental value to him.

He exhaled again. At least it was no longer attacking him. Now maybe he could-

 _click_

"Asriel? What's going on here?"

He gasped as the door creaked open. His mom Toriel was standing there, looking rather concerned. Asriel thought she would've been a little more upset, and he still didn't know what to expect. He began to explain himself.

"Mom, you're not gonna believe this, but I got woken up because my lamp suddenly started hopping across the floor. I promise I'm not making this up! And then it started hovering and attacking me, and-"

Toriel raised a paw. Asriel became quiet right away.

She sighed. "So it looks like your father and I weren't the only ones."

Asriel blinked. "Wait, are you saying your lamp attacked you, too?"

Toriel nodded. "We were woken up at around midnight. Our lamp had started flickering on and off at random, and then it started hovering and attacking us, like your lamp did. Unfortunately, we also had to break the lamp in order to make it stop. After that, we checked on you and Chara, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary." She sighed once more, gently hugging Asriel. "We should have realized that something might happen again."

Asriel hugged his mom back, still feeling confused. "So... you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad, Asriel?" Toriel looked into his eyes. "If this is about breaking the lamp, then I can assure you this: we could always get another lamp, but we could never replace you."

She scratched her head. "Although, I'm not sure why you didn't tell your father and me that your lamp was attacking you. We won't get mad if you wake us up in an emergency."

Asriel laughed nervously. "I really wanted to, but the lamp was blocking the door."

Toriel chuckled a bit. "Well, that certainly explains-"

A loud male scream from another room cut her off. This voice was not as deep as Asgore's voice was, so there was only one conclusion for Asriel and Toriel to draw.

"Chara!"

They ran into Chara's room, where the light was already on. By the time they got there, Chara, still in his green pajamas, was holding up his favorite toy knife and glaring down a plush rabbit that was floating in midair.

"Stay back!" Chara said. "Just because you have sentimental value to me doesn't mean I'm gonna let you get away with this!"

Asriel ran up to him. "Chara, what happened?"

Chara looked at his brother. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but this old toy rabbit woke me up by hitting me in the head! I don't know _why_ it's doing this, but I think I'm gonna have to fight back. My classmates already think I'm a joke, so if word gets out that I lost a fight against a stuffed animal...!"

He ran at the rabbit, trying to hit it with the toy knife. The rabbit levitated out of the way. He swung the knife. It dodged again. Stab, stab, stab. Dodge, dodge, dodge.

Toriel formed a plan. "Asriel, stand over there. I'll wait right here, and we'll both try to catch the rabbit. Chara, try to lure it towards one of us. I don't want to have to use fire magic, since it could be hazardous."

Asriel stood where he was told. He held out his paws and kept his eyes on everything.

"Here I go." Chara made stabbing motions with his toy knife, trying to lure the toy rabbit over to where Toriel was standing. He carefully ran forward, not wanting to trip or collide with his mom. The rabbit was too smart for that, and flew away from them. However, it wasn't smart enough to avoid flying close enough to Asriel, who pretty much pounced on it.

He hit the floor. He looked around. "Did I get it?"

"Yeah! You pinned it! Stay down!" Chara ran up to Asriel; part of the toy was sticking out from underneath Asriel's stomach and glowing with dark magic. "I got this!"

Chara lifted his toy knife and dealt a decisive blow to the plush. The glow surrounding it seemed to slowly fade away. Everyone stood (or lay) there in silence for a brief moment; Asgore had come over and was peering over Toriel's shoulder, wondering what was going on.

Finally, Chara grabbed ahold of the plush. "Okay, Asriel, you can get up now."

As Asriel stood up, Chara inspected the plush. Aside from its "fur" being ruffled a bit, it looked no worse for wear, and Chara gently smoothed out the fur.

"Does the music box still...?" Chara reached over to the back of the rabbit and turned a small wind-up key. **A five-note melody** began playing; somehow, both Asriel and Chara felt like they had just committed this tune to memory.

Asriel closed his eyes. He had a vision of a small human toddler, lost and alone. He saw himself, at a much younger age, in his father's arms, reaching out to the toddler happily. He saw his mother gently take the toddler's hand, and lead him to their home... to his new home.

And then he opened his eyes. Here they all were, around ten years later.

"Phew! That was, just..." Chara placed the rabbit back where it originally was; it did not move from that spot. "Since when did toys attack people? I've had this since I was little, and it never did that!"

With a nervous chuckle, Asriel rubbed the back of his own head. "I don't know, Chara. But at least this time it was something soft."

Chara raised an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean 'this time'? This hasn't happened before!"

"It hasn't happened to _you_ before. Mom and Dad and I? We all got attacked by our lamps!"

"What the?" Chara's jaw dropped. "So that's why you were yelling!"

Toriel looked around at everyone. "I don't understand how this is all happening..."

"I have a theory."

Two goats and one human turned to look at Asgore, wondering what he thought. In all the confusion, Asriel and Chara hadn't even noticed he was there.

"The last time I heard about something like this happening, it was due to a strange force, known only as 'the darkness'."

Asriel tilted his head slightly. "Darkness?"

Asgore nodded. "The darkness in everyone's hearts and souls. Feelings of pure hatred, contempt, and malice. They somehow managed to become something more... something to corrupt not only people, but also animals, and even objects. No one knows how it happened, and no one had any clue as to what to do. That is, no one except for an old friend of mine."

"Who's that?" Chara asked.

"His name was Dr. W. D. Gaster. He was a brilliant scientist, and he somehow managed to invent a system that would siphon the darkness away, from all corners of the land, and contain it indefinitely. It was only a prototype, though; in this case, 'indefinitely' didn't mean 'forever'. He eventually started work on an upgraded version that would permanently contain the darkness."

Asgore looked down, sighing sadly. "Sadly, that was the last time I, or anyone else, ever heard from him. One day, he just... disappeared. Search parties went looking for him everywhere, his own sons were always writing to the local authorities, begging for his return or at least to find out whatever happened to him - but we never found any trace of him. No evidence to suggest that he was either dead or alive. He was just _gone._ "

Asriel listened to the story in shock, feeling his eyes fill up with tears. If either of his parents just suddenly disappeared one day, he didn't know what he would do. Although he didn't know Gaster's sons personally, he couldn't help but want to give them hugs, if they were willing.

"And it seems as though the darkness is returning once more..." After saying that, Asgore stood there, contemplating something.

"What are you thinking, Gorey?" Toriel asked. Asriel and Chara wondered the same thing; he didn't stand like that, with that look on his face and his paw idly scratching his beard, unless he was seriously thinking about something.

"...Asriel."

Asriel approached him. "Yes, Dad?"

"Although I'm reluctant to spring this on you so suddenly..." Asgore took a deep breath. "I'm honestly considering having you go out into the world and investigate."

"Wha-" Asriel stood back, his jaw dropping. "Uh, Dad, thanks, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to do much; I'm only twelve!"

"He does have a point." Toriel gave her husband a concerned look. "Are you sure it's safe for a twelve-year-old, especially with the darkness going around?"

Asgore still looked convinced. "I understand both of your concerns. However, while Asriel is twelve years old, that is only one year away from being a teenager; he is becoming more independent, and I'm sure he can find ways to stay safe. In addition, Asriel, you're a boss monster; it would be good for you to start honing your magic at this age in case you ever need it to defend yourself, or for any other purposes."

"Did you want me to come along with him?" Chara asked.

Asgore shrugged. "Quite honestly, that's up to you. But if you want to go, you should at least find a way to defend yourself first. Your soul is not as magically-inclined as his soul is, so ideally you should think of a weapon to use."

Toriel put a hand on Asgore's shoulder. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Before we ask if Chara is coming along with Asriel, we should ask if Asriel even wants to do this."

Asriel found each of his family members looking at him, waiting for an answer. He weighed his options; he didn't know how long this was going to take, or how safe it was going to be, or whether he would see his family again for a while. On the other hand, the scope of this journey was still unclear; he would just be asking around town, wouldn't he? And he did need to hone his magic...

Finally, he spoke. "Dad has a good point. Lots of bad things are happening out in this world, but if I don't do anything to stop them, even if what I do is small, I'm gonna feel bad about it if things get worse. I could end up learning information that could save someone's life... and yeah, I do need to start learning how to use my magic in-depth. I have to learn it sometime; why not now?"

Toriel stood there for a moment, blinking. "Well... all right. Just make sure to use your cell phone to keep in touch with us. Either come home at night if you're close enough, or if you're too far from home, call one of us and let us know where you are."

With a nervous laugh, Asriel gave his mom a hug. "I think I'll be fine, but thanks. I'll let you know what's going on."

Asgore nodded. "I can tell that you have a lot of potential. But the sun isn't even up yet; let's all get a little more rest before we think of this any further."

Asriel yawned. "You're right, I should get some more sleep."

As he left to go to his room, Toriel called out, "And make sure you watch where you step!"

Asriel looked back and nodded. "Don't worry! I will!"

* * *

A few hours later, after everyone had done their best to get some more sleep (Asriel and Chara still looked slightly tired; wondering if something else will attack you in your sleep will do that to you), they were all sitting around the table eating breakfast.

"So, Dad, where do you think I should start?" Asriel asked before sipping his milk.

"Well, if I were you, the first thing I would do is check in the basement," Asgore said. "Dr. Gaster left one of his diaries in there, and it explains the nature of the darkness quite nicely. There's also an old practice wand for you to use; I've found that wands can be helpful when learning to focus your magic."

With a nod, Toriel continued. "And after that, maybe you could ask our neighbors Tina and Kid if they've seen anything suspicious. Even if they didn't, you could at least ask them to let us know if something comes up. But if you feel really exhausted at any point, just come home and I will fix a nice meal for you."

"Thanks, Mom!"

Asgore set down his silverware for a moment. "And if something doesn't fit in your backpack, let me know and I will hold on to it for you until you need it."

"Sure! I'll keep that in mind."

Chara raised his hand. "And I'm gonna...um... provide moral support, I guess? Cause y'know, Az, you never told me whether you wanted me to come along or not."

"Hmm..." Asriel thought about it again as he took another bite of his food. Once he finished, he looked at Chara. "I'm thinking maybe I should scout it out alone first, just so I know what we'd be up against. I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of me..."

"Pfff. Do I look like a wimp?" Chara asked, resting his chin on his hand.

"He's just concerned about your safety, Chara," Toriel said. "Your soul type is Determination-Intelligence, and while I'm not saying that makes you weak, I am suggesting that maybe you should think about the best way to approach this situation."

Chara sighed. "Okay, okay..." _Why'd I have to get Intelligence? Why couldn't it have been Strength or Magic? Maybe then I could stand a chance..._

All too soon, and yet not soon enough, everyone was finished with their breakfast.

"All right, I'm gonna go get dressed and then check the basement," Asriel said.

Asgore winced. "Er, well..."

"What's wrong, Dad?"

Asgore felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. "I forgot where I put the key. But I'm sure it's somewhere around here. Last time I had it with me, I was walking home, and a little white dog started walking beside me. I looked out the window before we started eating, and I saw that dog sleeping on our front lawn. Maybe he knows where the key is."

Chara smirked. "Better hurry, Az, before he finds a squirrel!"

Asriel nodded. "Right!"

* * *

Asriel walked out the front door, having changed out of his pajamas (blue, with yellow stars) and into a green shirt and black pants, with a yellow backpack. The dog had woken up, but it was still sitting there, wagging its tail.

Asriel blinked. "Okay... so... hi there?"

Suddenly, a lightbulb switched on in his head. _Wait! I remember what Mom taught me to do last year!_

He looked into the dog's eyes, concentrating _very_ hard. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

 _Congratulations! You can read my mind!_

Asriel drew back. "...It worked?"

 _Yep! Now why don't you check my collar? I found this shiny thing, but it's a little scratchy, and not in a good way. This other guy - I guess he was your dad, or something - dropped it, and I wanted to hold onto it._

"Okay... thanks." Asriel crouched down, noticing that there were two shiny things on the dog's collar. One of them appeared to be a tag, normal for any dog collar. The other thing, of course, was the missing basement key. After shifting things around a bit, Asriel removed the key from the dog's collar.

 _Phew! That feels better!_

Asriel smiled. "All right, I guess I'd better be going now. Thank you!"

 _No... thank_ you!

And with that, the dog went back to sleep in the grass.

Asriel walked back inside. "Hey, Dad, I found the key! Which door was it to get to the basement again?"

Asgore got up from his chair, grinning. "Wonderful! I'll show you where it is." He led his son to the basement door, and as Asriel unlocked the door, Asgore gave him another tip. "Watch out for the staircase."

"Sure." Asriel opened the door, flicked the nearby lightswitch, and carefully went down the stairs. This place seemed a bit dusty and forgotten; Asriel nearly sneezed when he took in the musty smell. Storage boxes containing old possessions were all neatly piled up against the walls, though not enough to completely cover any of them. There was, however, a desk in one corner of the room. Asriel saw a mysterious book resting on it front and center, as well as a simple plastic wand (that almost looked like a toy) right behind it.

"This must be Dr. Gaster's diary..." Asriel took the mystery book, and was about to skim through the pages.

Asgore, who was still waiting at the top of the stairs, suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Asriel, I forgot to tell you. You might want to be careful, because I've seen a few small creatures in here, and-"

Suddenly, there was a loud squeak. Something skittered across Asriel's toes, and he yelped, nearly falling over as he tried to kick the thing away. It went flying. He grabbed the wand, and glared at the creature when it started running back up to him. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a common rat. But Asriel could also faintly see a dark aura; it was the same one that surrounded Chara's toy.

He could hear his father's voice from up the stairs. "Try using your magic, Asriel!"

"Right!" Asriel pointed his wand at the rat, repeatedly whispering "Fire magic, fire magic..." In the past, his fire magic was a simple utility for when he couldn't or didn't want to turn on the lights. He had never used it to fight before, for good reason.

 _I hope I don't start a fire..._

A small stream of fire came forth from the wand, nearly engulfing the rat. It ran around in a panic for a bit, with Asriel both wondering if it was okay, and hoping it wouldn't attack him. The fire soon dissipated, however, and with it the dark aura. The rat skittered back off into hiding.

However, before Asriel could even begin to think it was all over, a second rat dashed out just as the first one hid. This rat, after running towards Asriel for a bit, made a flying leap and clamped its jaws into Asriel's paw. Asriel yelped, shaking his paw. _Get it off get it off get it off-_ But it wasn't coming off. Asriel glowered, smacking the rat with his wand (and trying not to hit himself in the process).

The rat fell to the floor, but the aura was still there. Asriel swung his wand a few more times, the first time just barely grazing the rat, but the next two times being direct hits. That was enough for the rat; the aura faded away, and the rat ran off.

"Phew! Glad that's over." Asriel took the wand, took the diary, and made his way over to the stairs. Unfortunately, he should have known not to speak too soon, for what else was waiting for him at the base of the stairs other than an unusually large, and unusually violent, roach?

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

The violent roach threw a punch at Asriel, who jumped out of the way. His heart was pounding. Did he just-? When he saw the roach standing nearby, with its back to him, knitting its brow, he knew he had done something right. Asriel pointed the wand at the roach, focusing intently. Another stream of fire came out, shrouding the roach in flames... but when it dissipated, the roach still wanted more. It still stood there, now facing Asriel, and still very threatening. The roach threw another punch, and this time Asriel couldn't dodge; it struck him right in the eye. He yelped again, rubbing his eye, so badly wanting to cast another fire spell, but finding himself unable to concentrate. Like something in his mind was blocking the rest of his mind from drawing out the basic power...

So instead, Asriel swung his weapon at the roach. The roach's feelers started twitching wildly, and it screeched; Asriel seemed to have made a critical strike. It shrunk back down to its normal size, the aura disappearing with it, and ran off behind the boxes.

Asriel stood there, taking deep breaths. In the depths of his mind, he felt a little bit of the mental fog clear up. And somewhere else in his mind, there was a new piece of knowledge. He had never even thought of this before, but right now, it was as if it came naturally to him.

He concentrated as he pointed his wand at himself. A shimmering green mist emitted from it; Asriel slowly felt himself calming down, and the rat bite on his paw began to heal until there was neither pain nor a mark to show that it ever existed.

When it was through, Asriel felt the mental fog return. He stood there and stared at his wand, puzzled. "Wha... what did I just do?"

Asgore chuckled. "You should first come back upstairs, and I will explain."

"Oh! Right!" Asriel made his way up the stairs, making sure he still had the two things he came here for. "I don't want anything else to attack me right now."

Once Asriel was back up the stairs and in the hallway, Asgore closed and locked the basement door, giving the key to Asriel. They made their way into the front room. "You see, Asriel, that spell you just cast was a simple form of healing magic."

"Oh..." Asriel looked up at his dad. "I didn't even know that I knew how to do that. After I defeated the roach, it was suddenly... as if I always knew how to do it."

"That is normal for learning new spells. When you were born, your mind was ready to let you use many spells, but to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you, it blocked off access to these spells until you were physically ready to control them. As you become more powerful, your mind will remind itself of the spells, and you will be able to use them yourself. This is true for all magically-inclined souls."

"Wow... interesting."

Toriel walked over to them, having overheard part of the conversation. "Hello! Did you learn a new spell, my child?"

"Yeah, I learned a healing spell, I guess." Asriel gently clutched his forehead. "But please don't ask me to demonstrate it right now, because my mind feels kind of 'eh'... that's the best way I can describe it, is just 'eh'."

"It would seem you are experiencing magical burnout," Toriel said with a knowing smile. "This happens whenever you cast too many spells in a short amount of time; your mind feels as if it can't relax. You will be able to cast more spells before being burned out as you keep practicing. For now, though, the best way to cure magical burnout is through either taking a nap, or eating food that was made with magic."

She giggled. "Such as, perhaps, a slice of the butterscotch-cinnamon pie that I made last night."

With a big smile, Asriel went off to the kitchen. Toriel was grinning, having fully expected this to happen.

* * *

After polishing off a slice of pie, Asriel felt the fog clear from his mind; it all felt clear as crystal now, and he was ready to use magic again if he wanted to. But for now, he was reading Gaster's diary.

 _While the darkness does cause the afflicted to suffer from intense negative emotions, it does not affect natural feelings of hatred. Thus, a human affected by the darkness, no matter how hateful they may seem, will not be able to kill a monster unless the human was already that hateful before the darkness took hold of them._

"Hmm..." Asriel felt at least a little relieved. On another page, he found an intriguing note.

 _The flower of darkness blooms not in the light. It may look delicate, but it's surely a fright._

"...Huh?" Asriel tilted his head and blinked at that entry, rather puzzled. He shrugged, feeling that it was just Gaster's attempt at being poetic.

After reading the diary for a little longer, Asriel put it away in the backpack. He set his wand in one of his belt loops, and slung his backpack over his shoulders. "I'm heading out!"

"Have fun, Az!" Chara called out.

Toriel waved at him. "Take care of yourself!"

Asgore also waved. "Let us know if you need anything!"

Asriel smiled at them. "Thanks! I will!"

He headed out the door, on the road to his neighbors' house. This mission was still very mysterious to him, but he had always believed that the morning sun would rise again, even after a bad day. Why shouldn't he believe that this mission would go well? But as he walked down the pathway, he had no idea that this would lead to the biggest adventure of his life...

 **A/N: Here is the first chapter of my new story. At first, it may seem like a ripoff to some, but I have my own twists that I plan on incorporating; I am not merely copying and pasting the script of the original game and replacing the characters with Undertale characters. But some of the elements aren't set in stone; for example, when naming the towns, do I use the names for the towns in the Mother game itself, or do I replace some of them with the names of the Underground settlements, or what do I do?**

 **If you're wondering about "Frisk and Asriel's Special Day", rest assured that I have the final chapter in progress (I lost my internet for three months, and even after I got it back, I briefly lost my inspiration). Hopefully, I will get the spark I need to finish the chapter.**

 **Before I go, here's a note on how souls work in this universe. Each person's soul (human or monster, though they both have fundamental differences like in canon) has one of the seven traits from canon, but there are also three secondary traits, of which each individual can have one: strength, intelligence, or magical aptitude. If an individual wasn't born with magical aptitude as their trait, that does not necessarily mean they can't do magic, period; it simply means that whatever spells they may be able to cast (if they can cast any spells) are more limited than if they were born with the trait. Here are a few sample trait combinations from some of the characters in this story.**

 **Asriel: Kindness-Magic**

 **Toriel: Patience-Magic**

 **Asgore: Integrity-Magic**

 **Chara: Determination-Intelligence**

 **Frisk: Determination-Magic**

 **Undyne: Determination-Strength**

 **Alphys: Perseverance-Intelligence**

 **Kid: Kindness-Strength**

 **These may not be set in stone, though. Anyway, let me know if you liked this, and if there's anything that needs improvement.**


	2. Grave Danger

Asriel walked down the road, humming to himself as he looked up at the blue sky. Going by how nice it was outside, he never would have guessed that there was a strange, malevolent force (let alone one known as "darkness", of all things) threatening to take away life as he knew it. In spite of that, he did have an unsettled feeling in his stomach.

 _I hope Tina and Kid didn't have the darkness visit them... especially Kid. Do they even know how to fight? I mean, I know Tina took at least a few self-defense lessons, but what about Kid? Did she teach them, or-_

His thoughts were interrupted when he nearly tripped over something. He felt... scales? Once he regained his balance, he looked to where he tripped, and he found himself eye-to-eye with a deep blue snake that, judging by its aura, had a bad attitude. The snake slowly, inch by inch, began to coil up, and Asriel gulped, knowing that it most likely wasn't a good sign. Asriel lifted up his wand, swung once at the snake - it connected, so far so good, but the snake was still coiling. He swung a second time-

 _Chomp._

Like a dog playing fetch, the snake had caught the business end of Asriel's wand in its mouth. He gave the wand a few quick shakes - nothing doing. The snake not only held on for dear life, but it began to bring its body up as well. Asriel gasped, his mind flashed to only one solution, and in an instant, his gaze narrowed. Embers erupted from the tip of his wand, right into the snake's mouth. The snake's eyes widened, its aura faded, and it fell from Asriel's wand and slithered away as if its life depended on it (and as far as it knew, it did).

Feeling bad that the fight had to end like that, Asriel leaned down as the snake slithered away and whispered, "Sorry!" He frowned as he got back up and continued on the path. _I hope that snake's gonna be okay..._

Eventually, the house came into view. However, as Asriel approached, he saw a rather worrying sight: Tina was sitting on the stoop, staring at the ground. It may have just been the angle, but Asriel couldn't see Kid with her.

 _What's going on here?_ Asriel continued to approach, but he felt something tugging at his wand. He yanked the wand out of his belt loop before it could fall out, and spun around. A crow fluttered in front of his face, staring him down, and two centipedes scuttled nearby. All had dark auras, and all were looking like they were out for Asriel's dust.

Asriel swung his wand once - that put one centipede out of commission. A second time - there went the other. The crow pecked his head a few times, and while he winced at the pain, it didn't stop him from swinging the wand twice more. Finally, the crow's aura disappeared.

As the three animals retreated back into the wilderness, Asriel felt another spell awaken in his mind.

 _If I rotate it like this..._ He drew little circles with the tip of his wand; however, to avoid accidentally casting something, he wasn't fully concentrating. Once he decided he'd figured it out, he grinned. _Hey, yeah! This could be helpful!_

Now that that was out of the way, Asriel walked over to the house. And sure enough, Tina was still sitting on the stoop. In many ways, she looked like her little sibling; they both had the same yellow scales, same lack of arms, same head-spines, and same general reptilian build. However, Tina was taller, had longer eyelashes, and her wardrobe was different. She wore an orange top, a brown skirt, long black socks, and white shoes, and a blue headband with a silver star on the side rested on top of her head. Right now, though, she looked slightly disheveled, and she was sitting there with one of her eyes twitching, mumbling incoherently. She probably hadn't even noticed that Asriel was there.

Asriel frowned. "Um... Tina?" He walked up to her, not detecting any signs of a dark aura. "Is everything okay?"

Tina slowly turned towards him, her expression blank. When she locked eyes with him, she said one word.

"Zombies."

Asriel looked puzzled, not knowing what she was saying, exactly. "Zombies?" _Did you watch a scary movie, or stay up all night playing a tough zombie game, or-?_

Tina's glare stiffened. "They took Kid. The zombies took Kid!"

Asriel gasped, trembling slightly. "Oh no, I... I'm really sorry! What happened?"

"We were out running some errands, and on our way home, we saw someone shambling out of the graveyard: a human, who came back from the dead. Their skin was kinda grayish-blue, and they seemed to have lights in place of eyes. Then more humans like that one came along, crawling out of the ground. Piles of dust began gathering themselves, and soon there were zombie monsters, too! All of them had this weird dark aura surrounding them."

She shuddered, remembering everything. "When Kid saw those guys, they tried to run away home, but... they tripped. And one of them grabbed Kid and just..." A tear fell out of her eye. "It dragged them into the depths of the cemetery. I ran after them, trying to get my sibling back, but the zombies... they dogpiled me. It was a miracle that I didn't get killed, or hurt worse than I already am! So I told the mayor about this, and then I decided to go home for my safety, and, well, here we are now."

The look on Asriel's face had grown more and more shocked as he listened to Tina's story. "I... I'm not sure what to say, except... I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Tina noticed the wand that Asriel was carrying. "You're a magic user. If you think you can handle it, then _please..._ go to the cemetery and see if you can find the little dweeb. I hope you can bring them home safely." Her voice broke. "And if it's too late, then... our parents are away on a business trip right now, so I don't know if they know about this darkness, but... I hope they understand..."

Asriel felt his resolve strengthen. "Don't worry, Tina. I'm gonna find Kid and do what I can to help!"

Tina gave a relieved sigh. "Thank you so much... I heard the mayor has more information. You should go ask him. And if you have any money, you should go shopping for some supplies."

"Sure!" Asriel waved goodbye, and he continued on his way.

He tried to wrap his brain around what he had just heard. _Humans and monsters... coming back from the dead? Do they have their souls again, or do they just... not think, just attack? What even happens if you're alive without a soul? I don't-_

His train of thought screeched to a halt as a stray dog jumped into his path, growling. Yet another victim of the darkness, it pawed at the ground, ready to bite Asriel, who stood there and shuddered.

"Uh... good dog... Wait!" Asriel suddenly felt the light bulb turn on in his mind. He took out his wand and rotated the tip in small circles like last time, but now he was concentrating, staring into the dog's eyes. The dog paused, having a blank look in its eyes, before dropping to the ground, fast asleep.

Asriel briefly stood there, wondering what to do. He considered just leaving right then and there, but the dog would still have the darkness in its heart and probably attack him again. Or worse, it would attack someone who couldn't fight back...

Sighing, Asriel raised his wand and struck the dog once, twice, and that was it. The dog hadn't woken up, but the aura was gone. Asriel briefly watched the dog's chest rise and fall to make sure it was okay, then turned to walk away...

...but in a few steps, he was face-to-face with an angry hippie.

"Hey, man, you think it's fun to treat animals that way?" The hippie's eyes seemed to be glowing red, and not even a natural red like Chara's eyes. "You can't enjoy yourself unless you hurt someone else to do it? You think those below you don't deserve even the most basic respect?"

Asriel stepped back, hyperventilating a little. "I-I'm sorry! I was just d-defending myself! Th-the dog was gonna bite me, and..."

But the hippie wasn't having any of it. He took out a bullhorn and yelled something really nasty: "You're a disgrace to your mother!"

Asriel sneered, clenching his fists tightly. " _What?_ " For he knew that the dog was affected by the darkness, and so was this hippie, if the weird eyes were any indication. And he knew that his mom could probably tell the difference if he could, and that she _knew_ the difference between attacking someone or something for fun and attacking them in self-defense. But most of all, he knew, without a doubt, that his mom loved him, and so the hippie's words cut him to the core.

They just didn't cut him in the way the hippie intended.

Asriel felt his resolve to fight increase dramatically, and he dashed at the hippie, jumped into the air, and brought his wand down _hard._ The hippie fell to the ground, closing his eyes briefly; when he opened them again, the first thing he saw was Asriel tearfully standing over him, sparks erupting from his wand, just inches away from the hippie's face.

"Don't ever talk about my mom that way! My mom loves me, and I know she loves me! Understand?" Asriel couldn't remember the last time he had gotten this angry, but then again, this hippie had no business bringing her into this.

"Wha..." The hippie backed up, raising his hands slightly in surrender. "Ease off, dude! I don't wanna fight anymore!"

Asriel could see that the hippie's eyes were no longer that shade of red, but a more natural color. He took some deep breaths, and he lowered his wand, backing off a bit.

The hippie got up and dusted himself off. "Sorry, little dude, I dunno what came over me. Not too long ago, it felt like something took over my mind, and made me wanna hate..."

Realization hit Asriel. "It... it sounds like the darkness."

The hippie shrugged. "Well, I've never heard of any darkness aside from what happens at nighttime, or when you don't have a light. So I dunno what to tell you there. But I am really sorry for what I said about your mom. I've never met her, but I'm sure she's really nice."

"It's okay," Asriel said with a smile, though still slightly tearful from the previous shock. "I can tell you weren't in your right mind when you said it."

"Thanks," the hippie said. "Well, I gotta go now, but you seem like a righteous little dude, so I'll give you a couple of tips before you go. First of all, if you need to figure out the length of things, use a ruler. And second, don't forget to brush your teeth. Your enemies will get scared when they see how bright your teeth are!"

Asriel nodded. "I'll try to remember that. Thanks!" _I don't know if it's gonna help me with my mission, but it's still good life advice._

The two waved goodbye, and before Asriel knew it, he found himself in the town proper. In spite of its tall buildings, Podunk was a somewhat sleepy town; most people who lived there knew most of the other residents, or at least knew who they were. As he walked through town, he could hear worried residents speaking about all the zombies that had just recently appeared. He also felt worried deep down; what if the zombies abducted anyone else? Or what if one of the zombies was a long-deceased family member of someone, but they had lost all of their memories, and only wanted to eat the brains or souls of those they once held dear?

But soon enough, Asriel made it to City Hall, figuring it was time to think about other things. When he walked inside, the secretary looked up from the papers she was organizing. She paused at the sight of him.

"Hello... aren't you Mr. Dreemurr's son?" she asked. "The mayor is waiting for you upstairs."

"He was waiting for me?" Asriel asked, looking a bit puzzled.

She nodded and handed him a pass. "Take this with you; they'll know you're here on official business."

Asriel took the pass and walked upstairs. The mayor's office wasn't hard to find; it was the only one with double doors. Two security guards were flanking the entrance to the office; when Asriel showed them the pass, they opened the doors for him.

The mayor smirked as he saw Asriel walking in. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Fluffybuns Junior! You're just in time; I was about to call your dad!"

Asriel blinked. "To be quite honest, sir, I didn't know you were expecting me; I just came here on advice from a friend."

"Well, your friend gave good advice!" He leaned over the desk. "Now listen, kid. I know you're wondering about the zombie invasion and how to stop it. Well, the problem is, there's no source, as far as we can tell. No zombie generator or what have you. So if you're looking to find that, you're out of luck. _But,_ I do know of a way you can help."

"Yes?"

The mayor set his hands together on the desk. "You see, there was this kid who got dragged into the graveyard. Last time anyone saw them, they were being pulled into this crypt. If you think you're tough enough, why don't you go down to the graveyard and enter that crypt, and see if you could save the kid yourself? Think of how happy everyone will be! I'll be a hero!"

He paused. "...I mean, you'll be a hero! Your mom and dad will be heroes for raising you so well, and your dad will especially be a hero for being such a great assistant to me! There might even be something in it for you..."

Asriel decided not to mention that he was already on his way there to save Kid. "Well... thanks for the advice. I'll see what I can do."

"Great! You can't miss the crypt; it's flanked by these strange towers." The mayor sat up in his seat. "There's a free map on the way out, and try not to come back unless you have the kid with you. Either that, or if there's an emergency. See you then, and good luck fulfilling your civic duty!"

"Right... thanks, sir." Asriel turned around to leave, thinking, _I know my dad works for him, but he's giving me a shady feeling._

Asriel left the building, making sure to take one of the free maps, and looked around. There was a department store nearby; he figured he should stock up on supplies before heading out to the cemetery. After checking to make sure he had his ATM card on hand, he walked inside.

"Welcome!" said the clerk as Asriel walked in. Asriel felt a bit nervous inside; he was still pretty new to the concept of "shopping on one's own". Fortunately, he had been here enough times with his parents to know what was where. He went up the first flight of stairs into the section for medicines and other assorted goods. Asriel looked around and, deciding he didn't need any of this for the time being (and also wanting to be smart with his money), went up another flight of stairs into the hobbyists' section. There, he spotted something that he knew he needed: a new wooden wand. The plastic wand he was carrying was good for learning, but it could only take him so far; with the wooden wand, not only could he look more respectable, but he could really begin to stretch his wings as a mage.

He walked up to the clerk for this floor. "Howdy. How much is the wooden wand?"

The clerk gave him the price; it was a little more than he was expecting.

Asriel's eyes widened. "Whoa..." Fortunately, he had that kind of money on him and was able to pay for the wand. He stowed the plastic wand in his backpack and set the wooden wand into his belt loop.

Next was a trip up one more flight of stairs to get to the grocery section. Wanting to be careful with his money after that large purchase, Asriel purchased two juice boxes and decided that that was it for now. He couldn't think of any reason to go up to the last floor, the pet section, when one of his friends was in danger.

He slowly, yet surely, made his way down to the first floor and out the door. Knowing that he was about to walk headfirst into a zombie invasion... it filled his soul with fear. He could feel it pulsating as he thought about the zombies, and what they might look like, and what they could do (or worse, might have already done) to Kid.

 _But... I'd rather end up in danger because I tried to save them, than live the rest of my life knowing that their dust is on my hands because I didn't even try._

He took out his phone, figuring he should at least tell his parents about where he would be. Before long, he had sent both of them a text message.

 **Kid's been abducted by zombies. I'm going to the graveyard to save them. Will let you know if I need backup. Thank you.**

Asriel put his phone away and took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. Once he felt like he was ready, he headed towards the southern part of town. No one could miss the graveyard; it was surrounded by a brick fence. His pace quickened as he headed down the path; he knew that if he didn't hurry, the graveyard would become Kid's permanent home. Tina and their parents would be so devastated...

"Excuse me."

Asriel paused in his tracks to look at the monster who had just spoken to him. "What is it? I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Oh... I'm sorry." The monster, whose name was Loren, looked like a cream-colored teardrop with legs. "I was just wondering something."

"What's that?"

"Everyone's talking about zombies. What's a zombie?" Loren asked. "Can you fight it? Can you befriend it? Can you kill it? ...Are you a zombie?"

Asriel was taken by surprise. "N-no! I'm not a zombie! I've never been a zombie!" Loren didn't seem like the attacking type, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Suddenly, a figure in a dark longcoat and hat (obscuring their appearance) walked up to the two, shaking slightly as if they were cold. "I agree with him. I can tell a zombie when I see one. He doesn't smell like a zombie, he doesn't... dress like a zombie, and he doesn't... have the icy pallor of death... like a... zombie..."

As they spoke, the figure started convulsing more and more wildly. After finishing, they seemed to finally give up, and they threw off their coat and hat, revealing their true appearance: a human, with grayish-blue skin, lights in place of their eyes, severely unkempt hair, rotten teeth, and ragged clothes. They grinned at Asriel.

"But I do! And you're about to find out what it's like!"

As Loren ran off for safety, Asriel drew his wand, ready to face off against the zombie.

"I'm not scared..." he muttered to himself, trying to fight back tears. "I'm not scared...!"

The zombie shuffled closer to Asriel. As if on instinct, Asriel swung his wand, cracking the zombie in the head. This made the zombie jitter a bit, but it recovered and grinned at him.

"Brains... souls... bodies... dust..." It licked its lips. "What are yours like?" It grabbed Asriel's ear and made like it was going to bite his head, right in between his horn buds.

Asriel screamed. "Get off get off get off!" He flailed his wand around indiscriminately, getting so desperate that he started channeling something without realizing it. It was only when he felt the zombie get off of him that he calmed down and looked up. He had just conjured some fire magic without even trying, and it was emanating from the tip of his wand like a torch. The zombie was backing away, shuddering and letting out some slight whimpers.

With a solemn look on his face, Asriel met the zombie's gaze. "I'm sorry, but I can't risk anyone else getting hurt."

He flung a fireball at the zombie, who took it squarely to the chest before falling over and crumpling to the ground. It did not move again.

Asriel stood there, dissipating the fire spell, and breathing heavily. His jaw hung open, and he felt like doing nothing but standing there and staring into the distance. Then, he sheathed his wand, brought his paws to his face, and started weeping.

 _I didn't know it was going to be this bad..._

One part of his mind wanted to just lie down on the ground and cry until he'd cried all his tears out. But in the end, the more logical part of him won out.

 _I'll have plenty of time for crying when I get home. Right now, I have to go into the graveyard. What I do here could be the difference between Kid coming home safely... or not..._

Asriel steeled his courage, and he ran down the path to the graveyard at top speed.

* * *

When he made it into the graveyard, he barely had time to look for the towers before a gaggle of zombies slowly approached him. Some used to be humans, some used to be monsters, at least one used to be a dog, and all had ravenous looks on their faces as they crept closer and closer.

For a moment, Asriel felt his pulse racing. But then, he remembered what he did to the last zombie he'd encountered, and he started some fire magic flaring from the tip of his wand, swinging it at them.

"No! Stay back! I have a torch, and I'm not afraid to use it!" _But I won't say I'm not afraid, period..._

He glared the zombies down, challenging them to take one step further. Fortunately, none of them took the bait, and they all ran off, yelping and whimpering.

After dissipating the spell, Asriel sighed, feeling a bit fuzzy in his mind. He wasn't sure how much he'd be able to keep that up; all the more reason to finish this as soon as possible. He looked around; there was a cathedral nearby, but the windows were boarded up. _It can't be there; the mayor said something about towers..._

When he looked to his left and saw towers in the distance, he grinned. Finally, he found the definite location where Kid had been taken! He almost tripped over his own feet as he ran towards that area, but found himself skidding to a stop when something floated in front of him and pushed him down.

"Gah...!" Once Asriel had gotten his bearings again, he looked up and saw a ghost floating in front of him. At least, it seemed like a ghost; this one didn't resemble any of the ones he'd seen before, though maybe it was just because those ones had been ghost monsters, as opposed to actual spirits of the deceased.

Not wanting to use his fire magic in case it didn't affect ghosts, Asriel decided to simply strike the ghost with his wand. One hit - the ghost vanished, reappeared to Asriel's left, and threw a punch. He couldn't dodge in time, and cried out as it hit him in the face. A second swing of the wand - the ghost vanished a second time, reappearing to Asriel's right, and it threw another punch - but this time, Asriel was ready. He dodged it, hit the ghost a third time, and that was that. The ghost looked up and slowly rose into the sky before vanishing altogether.

Asriel felt his mind clear up slightly again, as well as another new power awakening in him. It was another healing spell, but while the previous one he'd learned was meant for healing physical injuries and the like, this one was meant to cure debilitating conditions in battle. He knew he could only do very basic things with it so far, but as with all the other spells he knew, its power would grow as his experience did.

Getting back to the mission at hand, Asriel ran towards the crypt. "Don't worry, Kid! I'm coming to get you!"

Once he made it there, he slowly made his way down the steps, watching as the area became darker around him. "I hope I'm not too late..."

It eventually became so dark that he was forced to use his wand as a torch again. Once inside, he noticed a set of wall sconces up above. Lighting them with his magic still just barely lit up the area, but it still revealed that he was standing in a room with four caskets; each one was rumbling, as if something inside really wanted to get out.

 _Kid must be in one of these_ , he thought. But what - or who - was in the other ones? Asriel took a deep breath; he had to find out sooner or later. _Here goes nothing._

He reached over towards a casket, prying open the lid and letting it slide to the ground. The edge of the lid made a loud _thunk_ as it hit the ground, and Asriel was about to peek inside...

...only for a gangly arm to stretch itself out of the casket, followed by its owner, a trenchcoat-wearing zombie, clambering out of it.

Asriel couldn't resist the urge to scream as the zombie climbed out. It fixed its gaze on him, giving a malicious smile. Asriel flung a fireball at it, sending it crashing to the floor, but it soon got up, still having some fight within itself. It charged towards Asriel, who swung his wand - too late. The zombie had him in its clutches, and Asriel felt his world go upside down as the zombie took the opportunity to suplex him. When he hit the floor, it took a few seconds to recover. Suddenly, he felt it grab his casting arm, and its malicious grin was just inches away from his face.

" _No_ ," Asriel snarled. He slapped the zombie in the face. The surprise was enough to make the zombie let go - perfect timing. With a cry of rage, Asriel repeatedly swung his wand at the zombie, back and forth and back and forth, until it went limp and slumped on the ground.

As he caught his breath, Asriel took the opportunity to cast the wound-healing spell on himself. His mind clouded a little bit, but the rest of him felt as good as new. He looked around; there were three more caskets left.

 _I'm really not looking forward to this..._

Asriel held his breath, prying open the lid of a second casket. He was ready to draw his wand at the slightest movement of whatever was inside. If this was anything like what he had just seen, he was in for a real fight. The edge of the lid hit the ground, and out of the darkness...!

"Yo!"

Asriel yelped, about to draw his wand, but paused when he saw just who had hopped out of the casket. A yellow body, reptilian build, lack of arms, striped shirt, brown pants...

"Kid? Is that you?" Asriel managed a slight smile, feeling tears of joy come to his eyes. Kid may have had a few scratches and bruises from earlier, but they were alive and otherwise unharmed.

Kid grinned at the sight of their friend. "Hey! Asriel! I'm so glad you're here! I thought I was gonna turn into a zombie, or become zombie food, or something." They looked around. "Did you bring anyone else?"

"No... I was going to call my parents if things got too rough, but it hasn't gotten that bad yet." He gulped. "I don't think..."

"Whoa..." Kid's eyes widened. "I mean, I know people have called you a crybaby sometimes, but you're still really brave to come into a zombie-infested graveyard alone just to save me. In fact, I wanna give you something. Hold on for a bit."

Kid seemed to concentrate for a bit, and it wasn't long before their backpack levitated off their shoulders, thanks to their telekinetic powers (monsters of Kid's species had those as a way of compensating for the lack of arms; they weren't born with these powers, but could begin to use them starting shortly before adolescence). They opened the backpack and took out a shiny badge with a lightning-bolt pattern on it, giving it to Asriel.

"I don't remember exactly where I got this badge - I think it's called a Franklin Badge - but it's very special. They say it can reflect really powerful lightning-beam attacks."

Asriel took the badge and pinned it on his shirt. "Wow, thanks!"

"Sure." Kid looked towards the crypt's exit. "So, uh, you wanna get outta here? I think my sister's worried sick about me. Besides, I don't really like it here. It's too dark and musty and everyone wants to kill you."

Asriel nodded. "We should get back to town; I don't like it here, either. Then again, I think the zombies are the only ones who like it here."

When the two made it out of the crypt, they had to pause for a bit to shield their eyes from the sunlight.

"Whoa, I've been in there longer than I thought," Kid said.

Just as their eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of the outdoors, a bat suddenly swooped down in front of them, looking very aggressive as it glared in their eyes.

"Wha-" Kid trembled a bit, looking at Asriel. "I thought bats were supposed to be nocturnal!"

"I guess it's the darkness making everyone do weird things again," Asriel said as he drew his wand.

"Darkness?"

"I'll explain in a little bit. Right now, we have to deal with this bat." Asriel swung his wand at the bat, which seemed to knock most of the wind out of the bat's sails.

"Okay..." Today was just getting weirder and weirder for Kid. First they get abducted by zombies, and now Asriel, of all people, was fighting something? Asriel, who was so kind at heart that if a bug ended up in his house, he would rather catch it and release it outside than kill it? But Kid inwardly shrugged; Asriel seemed like his normal self otherwise, and if he thought it was important to fight something, then it must have been important. With that in mind, Kid hatched a plan. "Yo, lemme try something!"

Before Asriel could reply, Kid suddenly ran part of the way up one of the towers. They leapt off of it, did a 180-degree turn, and clocked the bat with a spin-kick. Unfortunately, they hadn't quite figured out how they would land, and thus ended up face-first in the dirt.

As the bat lost its dark aura and fluttered away harmlessly, Asriel walked up to Kid. "You okay?"

Kid managed to right themselves and shake off some of the dirt; they had a big grin on their face. "Yo! That was awesome! I feel stronger already!"

Asriel gave them a nervous smile. "Right... well, remember, we're only going to fight in self-defense, and hopefully not to the death." _Though I think we have no choice for these zombies. But, then again, what do you call it when an undead person dies again...?_

"Yeah, I know." Kid suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, have you ever been to Ellay?"

"No."

"Well, I went there once on a field trip and it was awesome! We got to meet the police force and learn what they do to keep order in the city. Their chief, Undyne, is the coolest!" There was a twinkle in Kid's eyes. "She's not afraid of anything, and she doesn't give up, ever! One time, she showed us these acrobatic moves. I don't remember what she called them - 'park-something' or whatever - but it was so cool! That's where I got the idea to attack the bat like that. Anyway, I hope you can go to Ellay when you get the chance. Once you see her in action, it can change your life!"

Asriel blinked. "I'll... try to keep that in mind. But anyway, I think I should tell you about the darkness."

They started walking through the cemetery, back towards the entrance.

"My dad told me about the darkness earlier this morning," Asriel said. "He said that it was a strange force that comes from very negative emotions like pure hatred. It once got so powerful that it corrupted a lot of people, animals, and even inanimate objects; it seems to be happening again. In fact, earlier today before the sun came up, some of our stuff came to life and tried to attack us!"

"Whoa!" Kid couldn't imagine where such a thing could have come from; they had read about different wars in their history classes, but none of those had been enough to trigger the darkness. But then something occurred to them. "Wait a minute. If the darkness happened before, how did they stop it last time?"

"Well-"

Before Asriel could continue, a monster zombie shambled over to them, groaning. Asriel, shuddering, drew his wand, and Kid took a battle stance. The zombie drove its fist squarely into Asriel's chest, and he fell backwards.

"Oh yeah? Well, take this!" Kid ran up to the zombie. A kick to the legs sent it to the ground, and Asriel got up at around the same time. He swung the wand once, but it wasn't enough. The zombie got back up, and it lunged at Kid. With a mighty yell, Asriel swung his wand a second time, and the zombie crumbled back into dust before it could reach Kid.

Asriel was taken aback, and he briefly stared at his own hands, trying to stop tears from coming. _No... they were already dead. I was just putting them back to rest... I'm not a murderer._ Somehow, that self-reassurance didn't feel entirely convincing. At least with the previous attacks, he could pretend that the zombies were just unconscious afterwards. But when a monster crumbled to dust, it only meant one thing. He knelt before the pile of dust and silently prayed.

Once Asriel finished his brief mourning and stood up, Kid walked over to him. "You okay?"

"...I guess..." He quickly turned away from the gruesome sight. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Kid noticed that Asriel suddenly seemed a bit more sullen. They followed alongside him, not saying a word.

"So, as I was saying, there was this scientist who had managed to contain the darkness temporarily," Asriel continued. "He was working on a permanent solution when he suddenly disappeared. No one's heard from him ever since."

"Whoa. That's creepy..."

Asriel looked at the sky. "I hope I don't end up the same way."

The two kept walking, and even though another bat tried to harass them, they made quick work of it. Even after they stepped outside the gates to the cemetery, a tough-looking zombie tried to strike them down. But of course, in the end, the zombie was the one who got struck down.

"Wow! I didn't even know I was this strong!" Kid said after the fight was over.

Asriel chose not to comment, instead focusing on walking back to town. As soon as the two crossed the double bridges and made it out of the territory reserved for the cemetery, he let out a relieved sigh.

"Finally... we're safe again." He'd thought of his words very carefully; after all that Kid had been through today, Asriel didn't want them to feel responsible for any of this.

Kid looked at the buildings in the distance. "Yeah... and it's a good thing, too. I was starting to get thirsty."

This made Asriel remember what he was carrying. "I've got some juice boxes in my backpack if you want one."

Kid's face brightened a little bit. "Sure! Thanks!"

Asriel took out the juice boxes, and the two sat in the grass and drank them, staring at the buildings in the distance. When they were done, they got up and headed down the nearby path, knowing that home was on the horizon.

* * *

As the two made it into town, Asriel suddenly had an idea. "Hey, Kid, I just thought of something!"

Kid looked over at him, confused. "Yeah?"

"Before we go to the mayor's office, why don't we go to that department store and get you something?" With a nervous chuckle, Asriel rubbed the back of his head. "Because, well, I feel like I owe you for you having to deal with that, even though it wasn't my fault... and besides, you got me that badge - thanks again, by the way - so I feel like I should get you something nice in return."

Kid blinked. "Uh... sure, if you want to."

They made their way to the store together; as they did, they overheard a number of people talking amongst each other. Some of them were expressing relief that Kid was okay, while others were admiring Asriel's bravery for saving them from those zombies. They even overheard one person saying, "His dad should become the new mayor!"

Asriel leaned in close to Kid. "Don't tell the mayor that people are saying that," he whispered. "He already has issues with my dad, just because my dad doesn't want to credit all the good things in this town to him. Dad prefers to give credit where credit is due."

Kid blinked. "Wow... I'd heard stories about the mayor, but... I didn't think it was that bad with him!"

As they walked into the store, Asriel continued. "And we can't afford to have my dad lose his job; Chara and I are both too young to get jobs, and Mom's still studying to become a teacher. She doesn't have her degree yet, but she's getting there."

"Got it... I'll keep the secret," Kid said.

Nothing seemed particularly interesting on the second floor. However, when they went up to the third floor and started looking around, Kid caught sight of something cool, and ran up to it. "Whoa, check this out!"

Asriel went over, wondering what they saw, and noticed a pair of high-quality tennis shoes. He immediately understood why Kid was so excited. These would be wonderful for someone who wanted to get more into athletics. And Kid just so happened to fit that category.

"Did you want me to get these for you?" Asriel asked. "I'm pretty sure I can cover the cost."

"If it's okay with you..." Kid looked at the label. "Hey! They even come with a free pair of socks! But do they have these shoes in my size?"

"We'll have to find out." Asriel took the shoes and headed up to the register.

Fortunately, they did have a pair that was in Kid's size. The shoes were less expensive than the wand was, and Asriel had the money to pay for them. Kid decided to wear the new shoes from here on, slipping their old shoes into their backpack (though they also set the new socks inside, wanting to try them on later).

Kid was standing there tying the laces when Asriel suddenly had an idea. "Uh, while we're here, why don't we go up to the pet section?"

"The pet section?" Kid looked up briefly. "Why do you wanna do that?"

"You know that dog that hangs out in our yard?"

"The white dog with the pointy ears? I've seen him walking around, yeah."

"Well, earlier today, he helped me find the missing key to the basement. He also helped me practice my telepathy." Asriel looked at the staircase. "So I think I should get him something to thank him. What do you think?"

"I don't see why not," Kid said with an armless shrug. "Getting a toy or something isn't going to hurt anyone, as long as you don't get something really expensive. Or really noisy."

Asriel giggled slightly at the idea of everyone in the neighborhood being kept awake by a bunch of squeaking noises. "All right; let's go!"

They headed up two more flights of stairs, past the food section, before making it to the pet section. There were many small animals residing there; budgies fluttered around in their cages, different types of lizards watched their surroundings from their terrariums, rabbits were wiggling their noses and taking in the scents, ferrets crawled in and out of their hiding places, at least one hamster was running on its plastic wheel, and many varieties of colorful fish, from silver-dollar fish to neon tetras, swam about in their aquariums. Although there weren't any dogs or cats available for adoption, the store did provide supplies for taking care of them, including a number of toys.

"All right, so the toys are over this way..." Asriel walked over to that section, following the signs.

While he did that, Kid decided to look around for a little bit. They stared at the lizards for a little bit, wondering how they could all stay still for that long. As they were walking towards the birds, though, they heard someone's voice.

"Hey, you."

"Huh?" Kid looked around. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. With the face. Can you _face_ this way?"

Kid looked to where the voice was coming from, and they saw a bird monster standing there. This monster's face somewhat resembled a snowflake.

"That's more like it," the monster said. "Though to be honest, I could've come up with a better pun than that. Given the place we're in, you might say that screwing up puns is my _pet peeve._ "

Kid started snickering. "Pet peeve..."

The monster's face lit up like it was Christmas morning. "Someone here likes my puns! And Dad said those kinds of jokes wouldn't get me anywhere..."

All of a sudden, the monster seemed to realize something, and looked down with a crestfallen expression. "Speaking of that, can you help me?"

"Sure. What's wrong?" The look on Kid's face was a picture of concern.

"You see..." The monster sadly sighed. "I kinda got lost from my parents. We're all on vacation here, and my mom... she's kinda sick. Dad was in a hurry to get some medicine for her, but the crowds here were too big, and before I knew it, I couldn't find Dad anywhere! He might've accidentally gone to the place we were staying without me."

Kid frowned. "I'm sorry... where are you staying? My friend Asriel and I can help you get back there. My name's Kid, by the way."

"Snowdrake," the monster said. "And we're staying in Canary Village, due west from town. I can show you where it is."

Just then, Asriel walked over to them, carrying a newly-bought red ball. "Hey, what's going on here?"

Kid turned towards him. "Yo, Asriel, I think we're gonna need to make one more stop before going to city hall. This is Snowdrake, and he got separated from his parents. You wouldn't mind going to Canary Village for a bit, would you?"

"Canary Village?" Asriel nervously looked back and forth. "Do we have to go back to the graveyard to get there?"

Before Snowdrake could ask, Kid leaned in and whispered, "He just saved me from some zombies over there."

"Oh! No, don't worry, Canary Village is north of town," Snowdrake said. "And when Dad and I were coming here, I think I saw one or two guys who looked like zombies, but it was mostly just crazed animals. Oh, and this angry farmer dude. I think his name was Wally or something."

Even though Asriel felt a bit tired from the ordeal he'd just had to go through, he still steeled himself from his own doubts. "Well... I don't want to risk anyone else getting abducted or attacked by zombies. Let me tell my parents, and then we can go."

Snowdrake beamed. "Great! I'll lead the way."

* * *

Soon enough, the three found themselves heading slightly north of town, through an unpaved path near the forest. Asriel had passed by this place numerous times whenever the family went into town, but he, Chara, and their parents had never taken this path before.

"Canary Village is one of those quiet vacation communities," Snowdrake explained as he led them down the path. "It's great for birds and bird monsters, and anyone who likes them; they even have a bird sanctuary! I just hope my family and I aren't being too loud when we practice our stand-up comedy."

Asriel looked at him. "Stand-up comedy?"

"Yeah. We're a family of comedians. Dad's pretty popular in Snowman, where we're from, and Mom always loved performing in Reindeer. I just hope I can get famous, too, and that people don't just think I'm telling bad jokes..."

Suddenly, an angry drawl rang out. " _You're_ a bad joke!"

While Asriel and Kid looked startled (Asriel even jumping a little bit), Snowdrake just sighed. "Oh, great. It's Wally the angry farmer guy again."

Wally ran up to them; he was a rather portly man, and he had a straw hat, blond hair, blue overalls, and black shoes. As soon as he got close enough, he stopped and pointed the pitchfork he was holding at the trio. "I thought I told y'all to stay off my property!"

Snowdrake rolled his eyes. "Well, I _could_ tell you that we were just passing through, and that I don't think this is even your property, but I already know you're not gonna listen to us."

"That's what they all say!" Wally's eyes twitched. "How am I supposed to make bread for my family business if you're just gonna disrupt everything?"

Snowdrake met him eye-to-eye. " _Hay,_ man, I think you're going too far." He looked at Asriel and Kid. "Come on, you two. _Wheat_ better _bale_."

Snowdrake's puns managed to confuse Wally; he tilted his head. "Uh... what?"

"Quick, while he's distracted!" Asriel whispered to Kid.

Kid nodded, and they ran up to him alongside Asriel. Asriel struck him with the wand, while Kid hit him with a spin-kick. Wally soon got over his confusion, though, and before Asriel could hit him with his wand a second time, Wally blocked it with his pitchfork. The two pushed their weapons against one other for a moment, neither of them yielding. Fortunately, Kid jumped in the air and hit Wally with a dropkick, causing him to fall to his knees and regain his senses.

"Did you really need to beat him up?" Snowdrake asked as Kid and Asriel returned to him.

Asriel nodded. "I could tell he was corrupted by hatred. It's a long story."

Wally groaned, clutching his forehead. "What happened...? This ain't my farm." He looked up at the trio. "Hey, sorry about that. I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's okay," Asriel said. "None of us got hurt, and what's done is done now."

"Thanks." Wally looked out into the distance. "Now listen, I have to go pretty soon. But lemme give you a tip: you can find the bread my family sells in a lot of stores. It's very nutritious stuff, and it makes a lot of crumbs. If you ever get lost in a cave or something, you can use these crumbs to make a trail and find your way back."

Asriel smiled. "Thank you!" This was the second time today he'd been given advice from someone who'd just tried to attack him, but this time, he had a feeling that the advice would be more immediately useful.

After they all said goodbye to Wally, they all continued across the nearby bridge.

"I bet that bread would make a great treat for the birds," Kid said.

"No way!" Snowdrake replied. "Bread doesn't do anything for birds except make them feel full; there's no nutrition in it whatsoever for them." He shrugged. "Bird _monsters_ , on the other hand, get nutrition from it like humans and most other monsters do. I'll have to remember that next time my parents and I go shopping... whenever _that_ is... and hopefully we won't lose each other next time."

The three followed the secluded, tree-lined path until they finally made it to Canary Village. Instantly, the three felt a little more at ease; the area was very quiet, aside from the sounds of birdsong. Asriel couldn't help but smile as he noticed a little yellow bird monster flying back and forth over a disproportionately small birdbath, while Kid glanced at a sign explaining the history of Canary Village.

"This way, guys," Snowdrake said; it was so quiet that he barely needed to speak above a whisper for them to hear him.

Asriel and Kid followed him deeper into the village, their walk eventually leading them to a red-roofed building called the Robb Inn. Once they entered the lobby, they immediately caught sight of a second Snowdrake pacing the floor; he looked up, and instantly saw who was there.

"Sonny?"

"Dad!" Snowdrake fluttered over to his father. "I'm sorry... I got lost in all the crowds, and I wanted to come back myself, but I was scared of that angry farmer guy and all those animals!"

"It's alright," Snowdrake's dad said as the two nuzzled their heads. "I should've kept a closer eye on yah... c'mon. Let's go see your muthah."

Snowdrake looked back at the two. "Wanna meet my mom? I'm sure she'll be really happy to meet the people who helped me."

"Sure!" Asriel said.

"Yeah!" Kid chimed in.

Asriel and Kid followed them into one of the rooms. As they went over to one of the beds, Snowdrake said, "Hi, Mom! I'm here!"

A rather sickly-looking female Snowdrake looked up at them from the bed. "Sn... o... wy...?"

Snowdrake nodded. "Yep. It's me. And I made it here safely thanks to these two." He looked at Asriel and Kid. "You might say they really hit a _home_ run."

The two giggled at that pun, and Snowdrake's father chuckled too; this place wasn't their home, but close enough.

Snowdrake's mom, meanwhile, gently smiled in spite of her weak condition. "Haha... thank... you..."

The Snowdrakes were so happy at being reunited that they all looked up and sang **a short, happy tune with five notes.** Kid blinked as they heard it, feeling that it might be important (for what, they didn't know). Asriel, meanwhile, felt the song imprint itself on his memory. And just as quickly as it finished, Asriel felt the world warp around him, and he felt himself become smaller...

 _Asriel suddenly found himself lying in a crib, even further back from the previous memory. He could suddenly remember it clearly: his mom had just given him a warm bubble bath with his favorite toys, and he was now in his pajamas and tucked in beneath warm blankets, listening to her reading a bedtime story for him._

 _"And so Sally the snail and her mommy lived happily ever after. The end." Toriel closed the book, gave the mobile above a little twirl, and gently kissed Asriel on the forehead._

 _Asriel looked up at her and blinked. "Mama?"_

 _"Yes, my child, Sally and her mama lived..." Toriel paused with a gasp, suddenly realizing what she had just heard. "...one minute, my child."_

 _Having already tucked him in, she quickly left the room. Asriel thought he saw her crying... why was she crying? Was it sleepy time or bottle time for her, too?_

 _But she came back in a hurry, and she brought Asgore with her, both of them walking up to the crib. She peered inside, and Asriel smiled at the sight of her. "Mama, Mama!"_

 _Asgore's face lit up, and he began tearing up too. "He said his first word..."_

 _Toriel smiled. "I know... our child has started talking to us!"_

 _At the time, little baby Asriel had no idea what was going on, other than that his parents looked really happy._

As the memory faded away, present-day Asriel stood there with a warm smile on his face. The love between family members was the first love he'd known, and it would never fade away.

Kid suddenly leaned into his line of sight, looking concerned. "Yo... feeling all right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Asriel let out a chuckle. "I was just remembering my own parents. When this is over, the first thing I'm doing is going home and giving them a big hug."

"Oh. Yeah..." Kid looked down, digging their foot into the ground. "Even though the worst stuff is over, I bet my sister's still worried about me. Can't wait to see her again; this zombie stuff was actually kinda exciting at first, but now I just want to go home."

"Me too..." Asriel started towards the door. "It was nice to meet you all, but we have to go now. Come on, Kid."

Asriel and Kid said goodbye to the Snowdrake family, and they set out for Podunk once more. They ran into a few adversaries along the way, but it was nothing they couldn't handle together. Kid was impressed when they saw Asriel defeat a snake with one swing of his wand, and Asriel in turn could barely believe his eyes when he saw Kid lay one of the weaker zombies flat with one dropkick. The wooden wand and new shoes, combined with the experience the two had gotten, really were making all the difference. In fact, by the time they made it back to Podunk, Asriel felt another new spell come to him; this spell would toughen someone up, making enemy attacks hurt them less.

Finally, the two made it back into town, and they headed straight for City Hall. They noticed that the secretary's face brightened up when she saw both of them come in together. A few other people were also in the main room, and they too looked relieved.

Asriel walked up to the front desk, giving a tired but confident smile. "Hello... I'm back, and I have Kid with me!"

Kid staggered up next to him. "Yo... I'm okay! We would've come here sooner, but someone needed our help."

"That's perfectly fine, as long as we know you're safe." The secretary handed each of them a pass. "The mayor has been looking for the two of you. He's in the office upstairs, as usual."

"Right." Asriel took his pass and headed to the office; Kid followed him with their own pass, remembering the things that Asriel had said when they had previously arrived in town.

When they entered the mayor's office, the mayor nearly spat out the coffee he was drinking. "Wha - well, look who it is!"

Kid walked up to him. "Yo... Mr. Mayor dude, sir. I'm back, and I'm okay! Those zombies were tough, and I thought I was done for. But Asriel saved me!"

"Wonderful!" The mayor suddenly had a strange glint in your eyes. "Now listen... uh, what's your name, kid?"

At this, Kid was briefly tempted to say _you just answered your own question_ , but decided to be a little more respectful. "Um, actually, my name _is_ Kid. Yeah, it's kinda confusing, but you'll have to ask my parents."

"...oh." The mayor blinked, not really understanding. _That's like if my name was actually Mayor!_ he thought. But he decided to let it slide, and that slightly devious grin returned to his face. "Well, anyway, Kid, when you get home, don't forget to tell your family that Asriel wouldn't have found you without my wonderful guidance."

Kid felt some sweat roll down their head. "Uh, sure. No problem."

The mayor pointed to a couple of chairs. "Why don't you two have a seat over there while I make a couple of phone calls? There's free lollipops if you want some. Just don't get greedy, because I'll notice."

As the mayor picked up his phone, Asriel and Kid took a seat in the chairs, and they each took a lollipop. Kid leaned over to Asriel and whispered as quietly as possible, "You weren't kidding."

Asriel shrugged. "I'll give him one thing - he _did_ tell me where the crypt was located." _But really, he tells_ us _not to get greedy..._ He unwrapped the lollipop he took and stuck it in his mouth; the bold, fruity taste was a welcome reprieve from the doom and gloom that he'd had to deal with since he left his house that morning.

The mayor either didn't notice this discussion or didn't care. He dialed a number, which turned out to be the number for Kid's house. Asriel and Kid idly listened as the mayor told Tina that Kid had been found and returned to the city hall, alive and relatively unharmed. Of course, he placed special emphasis on the fact that he had told Asriel where Kid had been last seen. He wrapped up by explaining that Kid would be sent home pretty soon, and that they would be in the company of armed security guards.

Once that call was done, he dialed another number. As soon as the deep voice on the other end answered, he cheerfully said, "Hey, Fluffybuns! Guess what your son did?"

Kid blinked and looked at Asriel, still whispering. "Fluffybuns?"

Asriel removed the lollipop from his mouth. "That's what my mom calls my dad. One time, Dad was on break, and was talking on the phone with Mom. But since he was still learning to use cell phones at that point, he accidentally hit the speakerphone button. While he was trying to get it back to normal, Mom called him Fluffybuns..."

"...and the mayor overheard it?" Kid tried not to laugh, but still couldn't stop themselves from cracking a smile.

Asriel chuckled lightly as he nodded. "Heh, and my dad had no idea that the mayor was listening until the call was over. After he hung up, the two locked eyes, it was quiet for a little bit, and then finally the mayor said, 'So... Fluffybuns, huh?' And then Dad said..."

He took a deep breath, and began to imitate his dad's voice as best as he could while still whispering. "Oh... good afternoon, sir. I, your assistant, Asgore 'Fluffybuns' Dreemurr..."

That proved to be too much for Kid; they burst into a fit of giggles, trying so hard to keep it quiet.

Asriel also laughed quietly. "It's been a little in-joke between them ever since."

Not long after that, the mayor finished the call to Asgore. He hung up, and he looked at the two. "Hey kids, what's so funny?"

"Oh, I was just telling Kid the story of Dad's nickname," Asriel said.

The mayor chuckled. "Oh, yeah, that! That one's always a classic."

The kids briefly looked at each other. They loved that the mayor had a sense of humor; he came off as a decent guy at times like these. But of course, they both remembered that his unfortunate ego problem kind of shattered that illusion.

 _What a shame_ , they both thought.

"Anyway..." The mayor looked at Asriel, grinning. "As a way of thanking you for fulfilling your civic duty and braving a dangerous graveyard to rescue your friend, I have two things for you. The first is this check for a hundred dollars. Don't spend it all in one place, and if you have to, make sure you're getting your money's worth."

He handed the slip of paper to Asriel, who took it and stored it safely in his backpack. "Thank you!"

"You're quite welcome," the mayor said. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to almost conspiratorial tones. "Now, the second thing. I just spoke with your dad, and I asked him to give you the key to the city zoo. It's been closed down for a while, and for good reason. Something's been causing the animals to lose their minds. I looked at it from afar, and, oh..."

He paused as he shuddered. "Penguins waddling around in a panic, elephants constantly tiptoeing because they're afraid that smaller animals from the petting zoo are there, and the world-famous singing monkey has disappeared! Jackals and leopards sharing an exhibit - mass hysteria! And don't even get me started on what's going on with the lions, tigers, and bears."

Asriel could only think of one way to respond to this. "Oh, my."

"Indeed," the mayor said, nodding. "And that's why, at your earliest convenience, I'm asking you to go into the city zoo and figure out what's making these animals go wild. Well, wild _er_ , as the case may be. If you can find a way to get things back to normal, it will be a huge boon for our tourism industry. You'll be even more of a hero than you already are, and I'll be known as the mayor who gave you guidance when you needed it most."

Asriel did his best not to roll his eyes at the gallant look on the mayor's face. "I'll see what I can do."

The mayor's eyes seemed to twinkle again. "Wonderful! But for now, why don't you head home for the night? You look a little exhausted from having to deal with those zombies." He looked at Kid. "And Kid, I'll have a couple of my security guards escort you home to avoid another incident. You should probably stay indoors until the infestation somehow ends, just to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Kid nodded. "Got it." They looked at Asriel, giving him a bittersweet smile. "So, uh, I guess this is goodbye for now, huh?"

"I guess so..." Asriel went over and gave Kid a gentle hug. "We can always talk on the phone until it's safe for you to go out again. And when I get a little stronger, then I can come visit you as long as it's not too dangerous."

"Yeah..." Kid stood there like that for a while; they knew in their heart that they wanted to spend at least some of that time thinking over how to properly thank Asriel for saving their life. "You should go home soon; your mom, dad, and brother probably can't wait to see you."

Asriel solemnly nodded as he let go of Kid. His breath caught in his throat as he remembered something. Each of those zombies that had been causing trouble had once been a person; a living, breathing person with families of their own. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, friends... all corrupted into mindless beings who desired nothing more than blood and dust. What if a zombie met up once more with the family they had in life...? Asriel didn't want to think about it.

"Yo... you okay?"

Asriel looked up; Kid was giving him a worried look, and Asriel only just now noticed that he had been crying as he was thinking about the zombies.

Kid tilted their head. "If you're that upset about leaving, maybe I could ask my sister if we could have a sleepover-"

"It's not that!" Asriel quickly said. "I just - I was thinking about the zombies again."

"Oh..." Kid gently smiled, trying to cheer up their friend. "The zombies aren't gonna hurt you anymore; we're far away from the graveyard now, and we don't need to go back there."

Asriel decided not to explain what was actually on his mind; Kid didn't need to see him breaking down after they'd gone through all that stuff together. He especially didn't want Kid to blame themselves. "Right... well, I guess I should go home now."

"Bye!" Kid said.

The mayor waved. "Have a good day, and thank you!"

Before Asriel walked out the doorway, he briefly turned around. "Oh... and I just thought I'd tell you that I think the zombies are afraid of fire."

"I'll make sure to spread the word," the mayor said. "The more information we have, the better."

With a nod, Asriel walked out.

* * *

Asriel's mind and body were on autopilot as he made his way home. He ran into a couple of aggressive centipedes, but the darkness in their hearts was no match for him. When he reached his front door, he unlocked it and nearly threw it open.

"I'm home!" He stumbled through the door and closed it behind himself. Toriel, who had been sitting in her favorite small chair (which had been affectionately dubbed "Chairiel") and reading a book about snails, got up and went over to see him.

"Hello! Asriel, it is so wonderful to see you arrive home safely. Your father and Chara are in the kitchen preparing lunch." Toriel gave him a hug, and Asriel leaned in close, burying his face in the fabric of her dress. "I trust that Kid is safe now?"

Asriel nodded against the fabric, but Toriel also heard him let out some ragged gasps, and she felt his tears soak the fabric slightly. He briefly leaned back and looked up at her with reddening eyes.

"Kid's okay - they didn't get seriously hurt - but... the zombies, Mom..." He buried his face again and sobbed.

Toriel held him closer, gently rubbing his back. "Shh... you're safe now. The zombies will not come after you in this house; your father and I will make sure of it if they try."

"It...it's not just that..." Asriel pulled back and looked at her with reddening eyes. "I didn't say anything because I wanted to be brave for Kid, but..." He looked down and sniffled.

Toriel gently took his paw in her own. "Come, my child. Why don't we sit down and talk about this?"

"O-okay..."

She led him over to the couch, where they both took a seat. Asriel leaned against her, and she put her arm around him.

"I can tell you have something on your mind," she softly said.

Asriel tearfully nodded. "Mom... after I saved Kid, I realized that all those zombies we fought... the ones who abducted Kid, swarmed Tina when she tried to save them, and kept attacking us..." He swallowed hard and looked into his mom's eyes. "They didn't just come out of nowhere! They used to be people! Real living, breathing people who had hopes, dreams, families, and friends... turned into these mindless _things_ who only want to corrupt and kill."

He closed his eyes, feeling the tears streaming down his face; his voice choked a little bit. "One of them was a zombified monster, trying to attack us...it went after Kid, and w-when I dealt the last blow..."

He took a deep breath, and let the next words fall out of his mouth like he was quickly peeling off a bandage. "It crumbled to dust right in front of me!"

And that did it; he began bawling into his mom's chest once more. "I felt like a murderer...!"

Toriel's face fell; she hadn't anticipated her child having to go through this kind of situation so soon. She would be upset at having to do that sort of thing, and she was an adult. Asriel was only twelve; he was only beginning to leave the innocent, carefree world of childhood behind. Not only did he find himself having to brave a dangerous place to save a life, but he had found himself having to take lives (or at least, it felt that way) under the threat of his friend losing their life.

A small voice deep within wanted to blame Asgore for making him go on this journey, but the more rational part of her mind reminded that voice that Asgore most likely had no idea that things were this bad. So she instead focused on helping her son feel better.

"Oh, Asriel..." She gently rubbed his back and whispered in his ear. "Shh... everything will be all right. Nobody thinks you're a murderer. The zombies were already dead to begin with; you were only putting their bodies back to rest."

Asriel's muffled voice rose up. "I... I know that, but..." He looked up again with a heartbroken look on his face. "It still feels wrong!"

"I understand... but look at it this way, my child. You were only doing what you had to do, and you did it so you could save Kid's life. Because of you, Kid is safely at home where they belong, and their family doesn't have to worry about losing their youngest child."

She looked at the ceiling. "And although I honestly would have preferred it if you had asked one of us to help you rescue Kid, I still think what you did was very brave. You wanted to make sure your friend returned home safely, and as soon as possible. And you did tell us that you were going to ask for help if it was too difficult, so I suppose I shouldn't be too upset."

For a short while after that, the two lay there in silence. Asriel's shudders gradually slowed, and his sobs became quieter. The silence was finally broken was Asriel looked up again, his eyes still somewhat red, but fewer tears coming. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Asriel?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"And I hope none of us ever become zombies."

"We won't." She hugged him a bit tighter. "I would go to the ends of the earth to protect my family, and I know your father would do the same if he needed to."

Asriel nodded. "And if Chara needed me to protect him-"

"Hey, you're not talking about me behind my back, are you?"

Asriel and Toriel looked over and saw Chara standing near the entrance to the kitchen, a playful grin on his face.

"Howdy, Chara!" Asriel waved. "Mom and I were just talking about how we'd all protect each other."

Chara chuckled. "So you're being sappy, huh?" He shrugged. "Well, I just thought I'd tell you that lunch is ready."

Toriel decided not to comment on the "sappy" remark; she could tell that Chara hadn't meant any harm, and that Asriel didn't seem to mind. "Thank you, Chara." She looked at Asriel. "Why don't you wash your hands, and then we'll talk more over lunch?"

"Okay." Asriel already felt better from being with his mom, although he wasn't looking forward to possibly having to tell stories about what he'd done that morning. He especially hoped that Chara wouldn't ask him any questions.

* * *

"So, what did you do to the zombies? Did you burn them? Break their necks? Rip them limb from limb?"

Asriel sadly looked down at his plate. He should've known that Chara would indeed ask questions.

Toriel, meanwhile, gave Chara one of _those_ looks (the kind that screams "you need to stop right this minute"). "Chara, you know that isn't appropriate conversation for the table."

Chara's grin only faltered a little bit. "Aw, c'mon, I'm just excited to hear stories about how he saved Kid."

 _I'm beginning to regret signing the permission slip that allowed him to watch those violent movies in class_ , Toriel thought. "I understand being excited, but you must remember that this was not a fun experience for him."

At that point, Asgore spoke up, looking rather downcast himself. "I'm very sorry, Asriel. I honestly had no idea that zombies were invading. If I had, I would have gone alongside you."

Toriel nodded. "If you hadn't sent that message about the two of you arriving into town safely when you did, at least one of us would have gone out to look for you ourselves."

"I just felt like I had to hurry," Asriel said, frowning. "I had already taken several minutes just to buy some things I'd need; if I'd taken much longer, Kid would've..."

Toriel held up her paw. "Now now, my child, we don't need to dwell on what could have happened any longer. Both you and Kid are home safely. Instead, why don't we focus on happier things, such as any spells you might have learned?"

"Oh yes, I'm rather curious about that myself," said Asgore.

As Asriel explained what he'd picked up that morning, Chara sat there eating his meal in silence, his heart feeling as green as the shirt he was wearing. _Why'd I have to be the only member of my family who can't easily do magic? It'd take me years to master even one spell, and yet my parents and brother can get the hang of them as easily as memorizing the words to a song! But what've I got? Good grades? Yeah, and then everyone mocks me for being a nerd..._

"...and I think I'm about to learn another one; I'm not sure, but it's a hunch. It feels like my mind's picking at it, but it's not there yet."

"It will come in due time." Toriel sipped her glass of water. "In the meantime, I think you should _cast_ your sights on resting until tomorrow."

Asriel couldn't help but giggle at the pun, while Chara both wanted to laugh and roll his eyes.

"Speaking of that..." Asgore produced something from his pocket and handed it to Asriel. "Here is the key to the zoo. You're going to need it tomorrow... if you still want to do this."

Asriel noticed that his dad's tone in that last part had a twinge of guilt. "Don't worry, Dad. Even though today was scary, I think the worst of what I have to do is over. Tomorrow I'll just have to look around for any clues about why those animals are going crazy, and if they attack me, I'll only have to subdue them, not kill them." He sadly sighed. "Besides, part of me feels like I didn't do enough to stop the darkness. Yes, I saved Kid, but that didn't stop zombies from showing up; the mayor even said that there wasn't any one source for them."

"On the contrary," Asgore said, "I think this whole incident, unfortunate as it was, helped to raise awareness of the zombie attacks, so that everyone would know to stay safe." He smiled at Asriel. "And you made sure that it had a happy ending."

Asriel gently smiled. "I guess you're right... I still want to help at the zoo, though. Someone has to... and I'm scared of someone going to extreme measures if the animals aren't stopped soon, especially since not everyone knows about the darkness. I want to protect both the animals and the people who visit the zoo. If you get what I'm talking about..."

"That's certainly understandable." Toriel looked into Asriel's eyes again. "But as I said before, you should wait until tomorrow before doing this. You've already done so much this morning."

Asriel nodded, and took another bite of his food.

* * *

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully. Asriel, after finishing his lunch, spent most of the afternoon lying on the couch, watching various TV shows. He had brought a pencil and some paper with him, and was currently finishing up a letter.

"...I hope there aren't any zombies in Snowman. Take care of yourself, Frisk, and I hope to hear from you again soon. Sincerely, Asriel."

While the commercials ran, he sealed the letter inside an envelope, and was writing the addresses on it when Chara walked in.

"Hey, Az, what're you watching?"

Asriel was about to answer, but the TV decided to do it for him as the infomercial for the latest "revolutionary" toy faded out and replaced itself with a station bumper... a very bright and colorful station bumper.

"You're watching cartoons?" The look on Chara's face was rather nonplussed.

Asriel blinked at him. "Wha... what's wrong with cartoons?"

"Nothing; it's just..." Chara took a seat next to Asriel. "We're twelve now. Don't you think we're starting to get a little... _old_ for these cartoons?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Think about it, Az. We've started ordering from the adult menus in restaurants. People want us to start being realistic when we think about what we want to be when we grow up. You just stormed a graveyard today!"

Asriel turned to him. "I don't want to think about that right now! I just want to think about anything other than that... like bright and happy things..."

Chara sighed. "Look, the point I'm making here is that we're in middle school. People are gonna start judging us for everything; they've already made fun of me because I'm not good at sports, among other reasons. You really want to give them more ammo to use against you? In less than a year, we're going to be teenagers, so it's about time we start acting like it. We have to grow up sometime..."

Asriel looked down, feeling the tears coming again. "I just remember that, two years ago, we were still children and everything was bright, colorful, and carefree... I'm not ready to grow up yet. It feels like everyone else is growing up, including you, but I still feel like the same child I've always been. And now everyone's suddenly telling me I can't be a child anymore?"

Chara put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hey, from what I've heard, growing up isn't that bad. For one thing, if you don't like something that's going on, you have the power to change it. Unlike now, when you have to roll over and accept it..."

Asriel could tell that Chara had been thinking about the jerks at his school when he said that last part. He leaned over and whispered, "Want a hug?"

For a brief moment, Chara peeked out of the blinds of the nearby window to make sure no one was watching. When he was sure he was safe, he leaned back down and gently hugged his brother, who returned in kind.

"I just don't know what to do!" Chara said. "I always go to a teacher like everyone tells me to do, but all the teachers ever do is tell me to ignore it. And I've tried - I've really tried! - but the bullies don't ever stop! If I stand up for myself, they're either gonna make fun of me for it, or they're gonna fight me. And if they do, I can't defend myself or else I'll get punished for fighting, _and_ the teachers will probably make me apologize to the bullies!"

He scoffed. "Because when someone's being bullied over and over, the teachers want to turn a blind eye to it. But the minute you stand up for yourself... suddenly, the teachers believe every word the bullies say, and want to take immediate action. This is part of why I'm nervous about going to Merrysville's biology camp in a few days... I just know that I'll pass by someone from my school, and things are gonna start back up again."

He imitated some of the bullies' voices. "Oh look, it's the sissy flower boy!" "What's the matter? Too much of a wimp to play sports?" "I'm gonna steal your stuff, and if you can't catch me, you can't get it back!"

With a sigh, he slumped back against the arm of the couch. "I just want to be treated with common decency. Does that make me unreasonable?"

It was Asriel's turn to put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "As long as you don't go too far with it, I don't think you're being unreasonable. If the bullies can't accept that you like different things than they do, then that's their problem, not yours. You'll get your moment to shine one day."

"I guess."

With that, the two brothers sat there and watched the cartoon that was playing on TV. Despite how the conversation started, Chara found himself not wanting to leave; he actually enjoyed the cartoon, and even laughed at points. Asriel found himself wishing that Chara could be free to smile and laugh whenever he wanted to, without any bullies making him feel guilty for being who he was.

* * *

Later that night, Asriel lay in bed, trying to get some rest. He was finding it particularly difficult, though; he kept closing his eyes and trying to drift off, but for a while, nothing seemed to work. He attributed it to the zombies for the most part, but he also remembered this old superstition he'd once heard: when you're having trouble sleeping, it means someone is dreaming about you.

 _Mom... Dad... Chara... Frisk... Tina and Kid... I hope they're all gonna be okay..._

When sleep finally did claim him for the night, he had an odd dream about a cave with what looked like a giant pink seashell inside. The rest of the details were fuzzy; he thought he heard a voice, but he couldn't understand a single word the voice was saying.

But knowing that he could make a difference, even a small one... it filled him with hope for the next day.

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay... I often get writer's block because I want to be careful to avoid inconsistencies. And this one chapter is easily one of the longest things I've written in recent memory; I think it even surpasses a really long chapter that I wrote for a story in another fandom. I wrote the different sections out of order, so forgive me if it feels a little jumpy (or at least tell me how I can improve.)**


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